A study to identify tools that metropolitan planning organizations can use to conduct cumulative impact assessments in regional transportation plans is documented in a new report produced under the National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP Project 25-25, Task 54). The study built upon lessons learned in a Colorado Department of Transportation study, the Area-wide Coordinated Cumulative Effects Assessment (ACEA), that sought to evaluate the technical feasibility of conducting a region-wide cumulative effects analysis on the long-range transportation plan for the Denver metropolitan region. The report describes a strategy for applying representative ecological and cultural resource metrics to a regional transportation plan, similar to an air quality conformity analysis, to provide decisionmakers with a meaningful tool for assessing cumulative effects on a regional basis. A PowerPoint presentation was prepared along with the report. For more information, link to Evaluate Colorado’s ACEA Methodology as a Mechanism for Cumulative Impacts Assessment in Regional Transportation Plans, NCHRP 25-25, Task 54. (10-2-09)

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Criteria for legally sufficient indirect effects analysis and cumulative impacts analyses in National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) documents are provided in a report released by the National Cooperative Highway Research Program. The report, prepared under NCHRP Project 25-25, Task 43, includes an analysis of existing state guidelines; pertinent case law, projects, and environmental impact statements; as well as a “guidebook” that incorporates lessons learned and provides criteria for legally sufficient analysis and documentation. For more information, link to Legal Sufficiency Criteria for Adequate Indirect Effects and Cumulative Impacts Analysis as Related to NEPA Documents. (9-12-08)

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